Rep. Steve Farley (D-LD28) on the state budget

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Daily Star's series continues today with Rep. Steve Farley (D-LD28). Formatted for transcript format. Rep. Steve Farley, D, District 28

Rep. Steve Farley (D-LD28)

Committees: Transportation and Infrastructure; Ways and Means

The Arizona Daily Star asked the following questions of each lawmaker:

1) Lawmakers have discretion over only 37 percent of K-12 education. School districts and universities have already taken millions in budget cuts, which affects everything from the economy to demands on government programs.

Should lawmakers continue to cut money to education? What, specifically, would you do?

A: Before the cuts of the past year, Arizona already ranked last in the country in education spending. Now we are well below last, and our kids and economy will face years of suffering due to the shortsightedness of Republican leaders. I will oppose Gov. Brewer's proposed slashing of $750 million to K-12 and 25 percent reduction in per-pupil spending on our universities. I will oppose her efforts to end all-day kindergarten, which will reduce student achievement while forcing struggling young families to pay for child care, pay for tuition to a public school, or quit their jobs in the middle of a recession. I will seek to close some of the billions of dollars worth of corporate loopholes so that we can ensure adequate revenues to secure our future through investments in our education system.

2) The governor's budget includes $37 million in cuts to services for the seriously mentally ill and the elimination of KidsCare, for a savings of $23 million. It also seeks to ask voters to drop 310,500 people from Medicaid by narrowing the eligibility rules.

That savings would be $382 million. Do you support these cuts? If not, how would you cover that $442 million budget gap?

A: These numbers are actually not accurate. According to the governor's own budget proposal, eliminating the 310,500 people below the poverty line from health care would save around $700 million from the general fund, but lose us $784 million in federal matching funds under existing law. In addition, the governor did not consider that tossing these citizens off their health care will also make us ineligible for the next stimulus bill making its way through Congress. Gov. Brewer's proposal would lose us more than $2 billion in federal stimulus funds through June 2011. We can continue to cover our most vulnerable citizens and gain $2 billion through stimulus funding, if we reject the Governor's plan.

3) What is your priority for budget cuts? What, specifically, would you cut first, and why?

A: The governor and Legislature have already made more than a billion dollars worth of cuts to vital services over the past year. The only consideration of revenues was a sales-tax referral on the middle class that would have paid for a package of tax giveaways to big corporations and the rich. Gov. Brewer wants another $1.2 billion in cuts, primarily to education and health care, as the House Republicans continue to push for a massive corporate bailout bill. These proposals will devastate Arizona's future. I will only support additional cuts as part of a comprehensive package that includes revenues, developed in negotiations with all parties at the table.

4) What kind of revenue increases do you support?

A: There are currently huge numbers of tax loopholes on our books benefiting large corporations, special interests, and the rich, amounting to more than $10 billion in lost revenue per year. True bipartisan negotiations should involve choosing which of these loopholes should be closed to provide the revenues we need to support the services our citizens and businesses need to thrive into the future. We should eliminate the sales-tax accounting credit that gives away millions of dollars to large retailers simply for filling out their tax forms.

We should hire more auditors at the Department of Revenue to recover hundreds of millions of dollars already owed by tax cheats.